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THE PAST AND PRESENT 



THE PAST AND 
PRESENT 



BY 

SICNARF 



NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON 

THE NEALE PUBLISHING CO. 

1905 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

JAN 6 1906 

Copyright Entry 

XLASS Ou XXc. No. 

COPY B. 



Copyright, J 905 
The Neale Publishing Company 



THE PAST AND PRESENT 



THE PAST AND PRESENT 

I 

Who faults his age is not a traitor to it, 
Who lauds it most will sooner quite undo 

it; 
A middle course is safer to pursue : 
Fault what is wrong, but laud the good 

and true. 

No doubt our age is wiser cnan the last, 
In many ways superior to the past ; 
For men have lived and died to make it so, 
Surely their efforts should some fruitage 
show. 



The Past and Present 



II 



Look backward to the age of George the 

Third: 
Strong were the passions that mankind 

disturbed, 
Licentious kings had spread corruption 

round, 
And public vice prolific did abound; 
Faith, the foundation of a social state, 
Had fled, and left the people desolate ; 
Ripe were the subjects of such worthless 

kings 
For rank rebellion — what rebellion brings. 
A century ago grim pirates sailed 
The ocean o'er, and painful loss entailed ; 
Great risks they ran who ventured on the 

sea 
Without a man-of-war in company: 
Swift sailing craft with rakish masts there 

were 
With men on board with neither love nor 

fear, 
Save love of spoils — that they could turn 

to gold — 



The Past and Present 9 

Their deeds of blood were better left un- 
told. 
Slave ships were owned by many North- 
ern men, 
Whose sons fought bravely to release 

them when 
The purchasers arose to keep, for what 

they'd paid — 
In after years 'twas this rebellion made. 
Those were the days when men were 

caught and sold, 
Both black and white alike, for rum or 

gold; 
For drinking rum was then no crime on 

earth — 
Yea, drinking hugely was a sign of worth. 
Press-gangs there were who seized men 

on their way, 
And made them bond-men whether yea 

or nay ; 
Poor debtors were imprisoned when they 

failed, 
With common criminals were they classed 

and jailed. 
(In this respect have we improvement 

made, 
That borrowers now can their just debts 

evade? 



10 The Past and Present 

You sue a man for what he justly owes, 
He stalks abroad with finger on his nose.) 
Such was the justice our grandfathers 

gave — 
To be unfortunate was to be a knave ; 
A virtuous debtor, though a woman pure, 
They would with vagabonds immure ; 
Their loathsome prisons were unfit for 

beasts, 
Where vermin fattened on their putrid 

feasts : 
To-day, our prisons, save in country 

places, 
Are pleasanter than ancient palaces, 
Though here and there are prisons where 

they fetter, 
Compared with old time dungeons, little 

better. 



The Past and Present n 



III 



Our great progenitors, neither just nor 

gentle, 
Indulged but rarely in the sentimental — 
Witness the records of Colonial times 
And note what penalties were paid for 

crimes : 
To steal was just as sinful as to kill, 
Death was the cure for every human ill ; 
They talked of mercy dropping from the 

skies, 
Then gave to justice added sacrifice ; 
Note with astonishment how they would 

slay 
For crimes considered trifling in our day. 
Small wonder that their ways were unre- 
fined, 
It was an age of darkness, men were blind : 
The world about them had but little 

charm, 
Its dreadful secrets filled them with 

alarm . 



12 The Past and Present 

It took a year to travel it around, 

Most men were by their small horizons 

bound ; 
Twelve miles an hour, that was the fast- 
est rate 
Their means of getting on were ade- 
quate — 
The great majority going anywhere 
Employed what's called in slang "Shanks' 

mare." 
They were not by their automobiles slain, 
Nor made they exit by a railway train ; 
Yet many perished in those early days 
When slowly traveling by uncertain ways. 
Men dwelt in hovels with an earthen floor, 
Whose roofs with straw were thinly cov- 
ered o'er, 
Though nobles dwelt in castles built of 

stone 
And made the best of everything their 

own. 
God's temples too were raised in splendid 

style, 
Had painted windows and a high arched 

aisle, 
A Gothic framework and a lofty spire, 
A marble altar, and mosaic choir; 



The Past and Present 13 

Men sought in heaven what they lacked 

below, 
Sweet angels' robes and crowns, release 

from woe. 



14 The Past and Present 



IV 

A century ago this nation, just begun, 

Had scarce equipment proper course to 
run: 

No railways, steamboats, nor machines to 
aid 

The toil of earth — these since wise men 
have made. 

"Knowledge is power," knowledge of 
means and ways 

Has since evolved through later yester- 
days. 

Yet much they wrought with implements 
they had, 

To improve their time and make the fu- 
ture glad. 

Compare their ships of war with those 
that sail 

Propelled by steam and clothed in iron 
mail; 

You have the record of their deeds ma- 
rine, 

Go envy then the heroes who have been — 



The Past and Present 15 

Greater their victories on the raging sea 
Than those in times since we began to be. 
Compare the tools which wrought this 

mighty state 
With those in use, and call the Fathers 

great. 



16 The Past and Present 



Ignorance existed 'mongst the mass of 
men, 

Who could not read, nor spell, nor hold 
the pen; 

The realm of Nature, that was held to be, 

Forbidden to the good, a realm of mys- 
tery, 

And those who sought its secrets to ex- 
plore 

Were still thought atheistic, as of yore. 

To those who into Nature's secrets pried, 

Wizards and witches were the terms ap- 
plied; 

The lightning was the sword, or lance, of 
God, 

With which when angry He destroyed 
the bad. 

A few there were who thought quite oth- 
erwise 

And sought the treasures of the earth and 
skies, 



The Past and Present 17 

Nor sought in vain its secrets to explore, 
For they divulged them ever more and 

more. 
These were opposed, not only by the 

mass, 
But by the learned and the leisure class ; 
Who gained their profits by dispensing 

lore, 
Taught by the sages in the ages hoar. 
Doctors, who bled their patients till they 

died; 
Prophets, who called it Providence, be- 
sides ; 
Lawyers, who throve in drawing sick 

men's wills — 
All who throve best by ignorance of ills. 
Science was "false," and only that was 

true 
Which fools had taught when all the 

world was new. 
I call them "fools," because they sought 

to find 
Only in self the ways of life and mind, 
Neglecting Nature, that doth clearly show 
The laws conservative of life below ; 
Walking amid the plentitudes of space, 
A cringing, trembling, superstitious 

race — 



18 The Past and Present 

Imagining spirits of another sphere 
Were playing mischief with the carnal 

here; 
That stars and planets, rolling in their 

path, 
Were influences of welfare and of wrath. 
But fault not all, for some there were 

who saw 
Behind the veil what kept the world in 

awe; 
There rose on earth a more enlightened 

race, 
Who greeted knowledge with a grateful 

face. 
We live to-day upon a world transformed, 
With bigotry at every point disarmed; 
No longer persecution with fanatic ire 
Destroys reformers with its rack and fire. 



The Past and Present 19 



VI 



When that, the nineteenth century was 
born, 

The Christian Church by factious men 
was torn. 

Her pulpit was a place where preachers 
fought 

With weapons taken from the field of 
thought ; 

In bloodless combat were they wont to 
rage, 

Each as a champion for his sect engage. 

Stern men there were who thought it 
wrong to smile, 

For life too brief it seemed, and earth too 
vile; 

The epithets they used are now unknown, 

Our age refined doth now such terms dis- 
own; 

The heathen in their zeal cney quite for- 
got; 

In splitting hairs Christ's champions were 
hot. 



20 The Past and Present 

They were remainders of the past left 
o'er, 

Who bathed their doctrine in each other's 
gore. 

Each saw the footprints of the Great Un- 
known, 

And claimed Him ruler for himself alone. 

Such spent their lives in arguing their 
creed, 

And left mankind without the living 
bread. 

So God gave lightning into Franklin's 
hand, 

And made it speak through Morse to ev'ry 
land; 

Through air, which Adam breathed when 
he was loyal, 

Revealed Himself, and showed its maker, 
royal. 

He turned attention from the transcen- 
dental 

And showed that life was something more 
than mental. 

There came a change, a transformation 
grand, 

Men's eyes were opened by a magic wand ; 



The Past and Present 21 

The storehouse of Creation was unlocked 

And found with many useful things well 
stocked ; 

God showed through opening gates a bet- 
ter way 

To bless the race, and bring men 'neath 
His sway. 

Now through the earth men fly with 
fleetest speed, 

Without contention 'bout their various 
creed ; 

Spreading to every realm and pagan na- 
tion 

The gifts of this, our modern Civilization. 

But think not process is perfection gained, 

Though that is coming, 'tis not yet at- 
tained : 

This earth has yet some evils which de- 
stroy, 

And naught so precious but it hath alloy. 



22 The Past and Present 



VII 

The earth hath yielded to the stroke of 

toil 
And grown rich harvests in its fertile soil ; 
Implements invented by the subtle mind 
Enable men rich treasure now to find. 
Genius allied with reckless energy 
Has yoked the elements to engin'ry ; 
Cities have risen with their buildings 

vast, 
And o'er the continents a network cast 
Of wires composed, and rails of steel, re- 
fined, 
For quick communication well designed. 
Great are the gifts of Nature to the race, 
That men are finding, putting into place ; 
A globe transformed, upon its axis turns, 
And every day some fresh advantage 

earns. 
Our age is full of hopeful men, who see 
A silver lining to the clouds that be ; 



The Past and Present 23 

They know that much there is to be re- 
formed, 

And will be, until error's heights are 
stormed — 

Yea, conquered by the hosts of truth and 
light. 

Who march to conflict armed with Heav- 
en's might. 



24 The Past and Present 



VIII 

The hosts of truth! Where are they? 
What is truth? 

Methink 'tis hard to answer that, for- 
sooth. 

The truth for heaven seems very plain 
to us, 

But what is truth for earth we still dis- 
cuss. 

Some say that truth consists in that or 
this, 

And all who fail to think so are amiss; 

Questions arise that none can answer best 

Until Experience applies its test; 

And many fail that others may find out 

'Mongst many paths which is the safest 
route. 

A seething caldron is the earth we tread, 

Where evils many by vile minds are bred ; 

Hodge-podge is made by quacks and 
shrewd savants, 

To meet man's needs and satiate his 
wants ; 



The Past and Present 25 

We wrestle still with agencies of wrong, 
As man has done through all the ages 

long; 
To help us battle, instruments we make, 
That Satan uses good designs to break. 
The printing press, invention of keen skill, 
Is oft employed as agency of ill; 
No unmixed good is by it produced, 
Vice oft exalted, virtue oft traduced; 
The little good done by the pure of aim 
Is poorly blazoned by the trumps of fame ; 
And yet we owe to freedom of the press 
The many laws that now exalt and bless ; 
And thousands are there in this country 

wide 
Who in its welfare take a noble pride, 
And editors there are whose lofty aim 
Is to achieve not simply wealth or fame, 
But all that makes a people good and 

great : 
Yet there are others which we deprecate, 
Who sap the principles of human kind 
Until to Faith and Virtue men are blind; 
Their only motive is a godless gain, 
Nor do they care how they their news 

obtain ; 



26 The Past and Present 

Their columns teem with deeds of crime 
and sin, 

Attractive such to readers foul within ; 

They make their living by the panderer's 
art, 

And pimp to gratify the sensual heart. 

Already are there signs that public taste 

Is low as that which made old Rome a 
waste ; 

God is a name to help the weak express 

In terms irreverent what they should re- 
press ; 

They publish greedily, with a large dis- 
play, 

Whatever takes men's faith in Him away ; 

They print on Sundays to distract the 
mind 

From holy thoughts, and things of heav- 
enly kind, 

Pictures of women, infamous or pure, 

Yea, by methods evil human minds al- 
lure; 

Then dare to print some homily of grace 

Within their columns, sadly out of place. 

If times have changed not for the better, 

We owe it mostly to the printer's letter. 



The Past and Present 27 



IX 



To-day this government the Fathers built 

Is too protective of the ways of guilt ; 

No fault of theirs who built this fabric up, 

But fault of age in morals more corrupt. 

I note a fact that fills me with alarm, 

The cause to hundreds of the people 
harm — 

I mean the centring of financial power 

Within the grip of few men at this hour. 

The laws of commerce toward great cen- 
tres tend, 

Until the millions to the hundreds bend; 

Unlike the laws of Nature's vast expanse, 

The laws of business do the few enhance. 

Great is the problem of the general good ; 

To solve it, many martyrs shed their 
blood : 

From those who fought for liberty at 
Rome 

To those who fight for freedom nearer 
home. 



28 The Past and Present 

For this the Son of God came down to 

earth, 
Of Jewish maiden had His royal birth ; 
For this one day He suffered human loss, 
And sought for men solution on a cross; 
For this the thousands perished in their 

time; 
For this the patriots bled ; this made sub- 
lime 
The men of Seventy-six : Great Washing- 
ton 
And those he led till victory he won, 
Marshalled themselves in armies to resist 
And formed a nation which doth still 

exist, 
Where each man should be free to earn 

his bread 
And by his own right arm be clothed and 

fed. 
Vain was their hope, yea, all their efforts 

vain, 
If such are thwarted by a vile chicane, 
And methods subtle, practices of guile 
Relieve the honest of the fruits of toil. 
We need new saviors of a different kind 
From those in ages long since left behind ; 



The Past and Present 29 

Not those elected by the aid of graft, 
For they already drive their subjects daft. 
Our public men who now the people rule 
Too long have to the Devil gone to school ; 
If we exchange these tyrants of finance 
For such 'twill not our weal advance — 
Take as example of a party's way, 
The G. O. P. or Tammany to-day. 



30 The Past and Present 



X 



We see behind us in the centuries gone 
Ruins of nations other than our own. 
Can these United States resist what they 
V/ent down before? If you answer yes, 

I say: 
Give me some reason other than your 

feeling, 
To show a holy God has changed His 

dealing : 
With those who call that Puritanic 
That walks not in their path Satanic ; 
With those who reverence not days holy 
And call His worship melancholy. 
'Tis righteousness alone a nation lifteth, 
Without it, it to ruin drifteth. 
Already dangerous symptoms prophets 

see 
Of coming perils to society : 
Evils imported from a foreign shore, 
Mingling with those already here before, 



The Past and Present 31 

Are changing customs which the Fathers 

gave us 
To keep us strong and from destruction 

save us. 
He's called a pessimist who ruin fears, 
By optimist whom every prospect cheers, 
Who'll fiddle when the world is burning 

down, 
And like a Nero twiddle with his crown ; 
"Glory to God!" he shouts. "I'm going 

higher 
When all the world dissolves in liquid 

fire." 
Be not deceived by optimistic folly, 
Nor yet give way to spirits melancholy; 
Be like the reverend fathers apostolic, 
Equipped for battle, not for fun and frolic. 



32 The Past and Present 



XI 



Forces of change are constantly evolving ; 

New combinations, old ones are dissolv- 
ing. 

Can this Republic, as the Fathers made 
her, 

Assimilate the elements that invade her? 

To-day we have a foreign population, 

Perhaps, of forty millions in the nation, 

In atmosphere monarchic born and bred; 

A Pope of Church, a King of State the 
head, 

No wonder why old customs are contrary 

From what they were in first centenary. 

These people who have come from o'er 
the seas, 

Bringing strange habits with their beer 
and cheese, 

Have little knowledge of our ways of ac- 
tion, 

In native customs find but small attrac- 
tion; 



The Past and Present 33 

They by our party chiefs are richly prized, 

And all too quickly, by them, naturalized. 

Yet they some virtues have that we've 
forgotten, 

In some things they are pure, and we are 
rotten ; 

Go where they dwell and you will see 
them swarming, 

Who think in breeding there is naught 
alarming ; 

And they are right, for every new-made 
creature 

Gives to the earth an added charm of fea- 
ture — 

Unlike some home-made women of our 
epoch, 

Whose manners would an ancient matron 
shock. 

Noble exceptions are there, in great num- 
ber; 

We see them when awake and when we 
slumber. 

Our laws seem futile to resist transition 

From olden customs to the new condi- 
tion; 

The moral atmosphere of life, it is not 

As good as 'twas, or else we have forgot ; 



34 The Past and Present 

But certain I, in matters matrimonial, 
The world was better in the days Colo- 
nial. 
The union of the sexes is divine, 
To bring to being they with God com- 
bine; 
Immortal creatures the resultant are, 
And future blessings issue from one pair. 
An awful thing it is for us to be 
The curse or blessing of futurity. 
Society is recreant to its trust, 
Its methods in this country are unjust : 
It has no lofty and exalted view 
Of that which joins for life the sexes two ; 
Industrial systems marriage does not aid, 
Seeking those only who may be under- 
paid, 
Employing women at less price than men, 
Depriving state of homes and citizen. 
No man is fit for husband of a wife 
Who does not reverence God and human 

life; 
And she who pledges man her solemn 

word 
Should do it as the handmaid of the Lord. 
How difficult to-day is marriage made : 
Wages are small and men are underpaid, 



The Past and Present 35 

Women and children, unprovided for, 
Do take their place in factory or in store ; 
Blind law determines, where the state 

should say, 
Who work should do, and what should be 

their pay; 
'Tis bearded men alone on whom should 

rest 
A happy state, and home with children 

blest ; 
Only the nation built on Nature's plan 
Shall long exist, the hope and strength of 

man. 



36 The Past and Present 



XII. 

When I was boy, the father's rule was 
stern, 

And I and others were compelled to learn ; 

Schoolmaster's rod oft fell upon the hand, 

Causing our brains with knowledge to 
expand ; 

The devil in us was exorcised by switch- 
ing, 

To purge the soul they'd set the fingers 
itching, 

And sometimes other place, I need not 
mention, 

That softer is and fuller in dimension. 

In modern times we've grown more sen- 
timental 

Within the schools, and under roof pa- 
rental ; 

To be a dunce no more is deemed immoral, 

To quicken wits they give a dose of 
chloral. 

I often wish I were a boy again, 

So free is learning now from toil and 
pain; 



The Past and Present 37 

A daily picnic do the youngsters have, 

From time they enter school until they 
"lave." 

When I attended it no sweet carbolic 

Was sprinkled round to keep away the 
colic ; 

Between the training of the voice and 
muscle, 

The intellectual and aesthetic, hustle. 

Schools are the places where the children 
play 

A little while in middle of the day ; 

No wonder that they haste to them with 
glee, 

Our boys and girls, to have their daily 
spree. 

When I was young the graduates of col- 
lege 

Came out informed in every kind of 
knowledge ; 

Their heads were big, their hair was long 
and wiry, 

Enthusiasts were they, both hot and fiery ; 

Each had an object, and a great ambi- 
tion — 

To improve the world and take a high 
position. 



38 The Past and Present 

The realm of intellect was thought to be 

The highest one of our humanity ; 

We threw our bulging locks from off the 

brow, 
Had fronts like Jove, not as they have 

them now ; 
Our legs were normal, not this modern 

size, 
Big biceps won no academic prize ; 
We were not up in pugilistic poses, 
Nor did we doubt the history of Moses. 
In studying hard perhaps we grew dys- 
peptic, 
But certain I, none came out greater scep- 
tic. 
The graduate to-day of modern college 
Is stronger in philosophy than knowl- 
edge; 
May doubt the origin of man, yet traces 
His health and happiness to college races. 
Skulls won the prizes in times past away, 
Sculls win them yet in our modern day. 
Am I reproving? No, nor am I righting, 
I am but simply current facts inditing. 



The Past and Present 39 



XIII 

In earlier days, when I was just expand- 
ing, 

Our parsons 'mongst the people were 
commanding ; 

If men did wrong from pulpit they'd re- 
buke it, 

Until God's vengeance fearing, they for- 
sook it. 

They soothed no itching ears with foolish 
twaddle 

As they went round in sulky or in saddle ; 

They stood like lights upon life's rocky 
shore, 

And showed us whither every current 
bore. 

How is't to-day, with these our modern 
preachers ? 

Are they of God the true inspired teach- 
ers? 

Do they proclaim to mortals still found 
sinning 

The law and gospel as at the beginning? 



40 The Past and Present 

The fathers lived between the earth and 

sky, 
And lived so poorly they preferred to die ; 
But their successors of this modern day 
Do prosper so they much prefer to stay; 
They teach the heavenly kingdom it is 

here, 
That was foretold by early Jewish seer : 
Yet earth is full of violence and fraud, 
Though much there is the angels might 

applaud. 
Tolstoi the Russian, to my mind, is right : 
Earth's shadows are the denser for the 

light. 
America can't point to Russia with con- 
tempt, 
For she's not "Kingdom come," from sin 

exempt : 
I read time since, in Magazine Eclectic, 
An article on crime, by no dyspeptic, 
In which he stated figures most astound- 
ing, 
The hopeful views of people all confound- 
ing-— 
Crime costs six hundred millions every 

year. 
Can it be true that kingdom come is here? 



The Past and Present 41 

Men idly prate, whose salaries are good, 
Whose stomachs feel contented with their 

food; 
The badness of the world they see it not, 
They judge it all by their own garden 

plot; 
If you could peel them, you would find 

within 
Some cherished evil that they think no 

sin; 
No consciousness of any stain have they, 
Nor ask forgiveness when they kneel to 

pray. 
They who are gratified with earth's con- 
dition 
Would certainly be happy in perdition. 
"The world is very evil, the times are 

waxing late, 
Be sober and keep vigil, the Judge is at 

the gate." 
Our very methods of destruction charm, 
And smiles conceal our purposes of harm ; 
We compliment a person to his face, 
And say the word that hurls him from 

his place; 
Few tell the truth in any walk of life, 
And practices of injury are rife, 



4? The Past and Present 

While persons preach that everything is 

grand, 
Mammon is robbing men on every hand ; 
Lust is seducing from the narrow way, 
And pleasure turning piety to play. 
Full are the papers of reports of riot, 
And vultures fatten yet on human diet : 
Yet not an optimistic person squirms, 
Though sin is feeding hundreds to the 

worms. 
Britain, the sanctified, employs her money 
In ways that devils think are funny : 
She doth the heathen Japanese inspire 
To draw the chestnuts from the Russian 

fire. 
And are the other nations buccaneering 
In eastern waters, more than her, God 

fearing ? 
Go preach my Gospel unto every savage, 
And as you preach, the word that rhymes 

is — ravage. 
O that was not what the Saviour said, 
He came to earth to give the living bread : 
So should a dying world with it be fed. 
Until the modus of our operandi 
Shows Christian motive, call your propa- 
ganda 



The Past and Present 43 

By its true name of "selfish and Satanic," 

"American, Germanic, or Brittanic." 

Are these the times of generous good feel- 
ing, 

When all are merciful in thought and 
dealing? 

One might expect while listening to the 
preaching, 

Men did not practice any over-reaching. 

If no reproof is needed, all are pure, 

Why do the doctors go about to cure? 

Why do I pass policemen on the street? 

Why can't I trust all people that I meet? 

I read of judges now and then who say 

To cringing culprits, "Hang on such a 
day." 

When we go out our front door, do we 
lock it, 

Or as we walk abroad keep hand in 
pocket? 

And when we bargain do we queer the 
jargon 

Of the good man with whom we drive the 
bargain? 

Do even preachers preaching these dis- 
courses, 

Trust fully those with whom they swap 
their horses? 



44 The Past and Present 

Are these the halcyon days foretold of old, 
When wolf and lamb lie snugly in one 

fold? 
I know the bears in yon Yosemite 
Betray to-day no ancient enmity — 
Yea, willingly stand up to be undone 
By Roosevelt's or anybody's gun ; 
But will the wolf let little lamblet play 
Outside his stomach? No, truth anwers, 

nay. 
If people are so good it is a wonder 
In such clear sky we hear no clap of 

thunder. 



The Past and Present 45 



XIV 

The tyranny of priests and kings exist no 

longer, 
That of the doctors has become the 

stronger. 
In olden time the future did alarm us, 
'Tis now we fear that microbes they will 

harm us. 
These, though invisible to the human eye, 
Ride on the wind, in every cesspool lie ; 
Yea, every person walking 'long the road 
Has deathly germs, perhaps, about him 

stowed ; 
When lovers meet they hardly dare to 

hug, 
From fear of danger from each other's 

bug. 
The public's doctors now inspect our 

houses, 
To-morrow they may search our frocks 

and trouse's; 



46 The Past and Present 

Soon all the people walking in the street 
They'll smell to ascertain if they are 

sweet ; 
To save our lives, the doctors are annoy- 
ing, 
To save our lives, are happiness destroy- 
ing: 
I'd rather be a savage in the forest shady 
Than be a twentieth century gentleman 
or lady. 



The Past and Present 47 



XV 

Before I close I am inclined to mention 
A few ideas concerning intervention : 
Few nations are there big enough to do it, 
And those that do may soon have chance 

to rue it. 
Go not between two dogs when they are 

fighting 
Unless you are prepared to do some bit- 
ing; 
There's misconstruction of the best en- 
deavor, 
And few are thought more good than they 

are clever. 
Alas ! alas ! that warring perturbation 
Disturbs the peaceful in the Lord's crea- 
tion. 
Sometimes, however, powdery explosion 
Has acted like a purifying lotion : 
I know a people that was made a nation — 
Yea, a great, a rich, a mighty nation — 



48 The Past and Present 

By lurid war — yet war shall some time 

cease 
And all the earth enjoy millennial peace. 
But long as rank injustice rules mankind, 
No holy peace shall here firm lodgment 

find; 
So long as greed shall dominate the 

thought 
Shall battles many on the earth be 

fought ; 
So long as patriotism, love of nation, 
Productive of inhuman isolation, 
Control the citizens of each separate state, 
For peace on earth shall all the v/orld 

await : 
"Tis not the love of flag but love of men 
Can open gates of Paradise again. 



The Past and Present 49 



XVI 

In this, our age of progress, Science 

preaches, 
And contradicts the Bible as it teaches ; 
It can explain how everything got here, 
Better than Moses — Hebrew scribe and 

seer. 
'Tis evolution versus revelation — 
Shows modus operandi of creation ( ?) 
Man never fell, he ever has been growing, 
When Moses said so he was only blow- 
ing: 
Man has existed in some form or other 
For many million aeons altogether ( ?) 
For what are aeons to a mind elastic 
When dealing with the protoplastic? 
And what are statute miles in spaces 

stellar 
To any scientific story-teller? 
I still believe that Adam was and tumbled, 
And that he was by his Creator humbled ; 



50 The Past and Present 

I still believe the farther back you go 
The men that lived more than the mod- 
erns know, 
About the time when they began to be, 
Than's taught to-day in their philosophy. 
The earlier peoples, no greater fools than 

we, 
Knew what was fact and what was the- 
ory; 
Believed that Moses was a wise savant, 
Who gave them freedom and supplied 

their want. 
He did not simply sit in study chair 
And build a science out of gas and air ; 
No "fake" was he to lead the world astray, 
Such as we have in this our fool to-day. 
For fool-age this, if ever such there was, 
Which puts belief in idiotic cause — 
Is this not fool-age? Listen to its talk, 
Peruse its pamphlets, see its people stalk ; 
Stand by its railways, note its passing 

trains ; 
Visit their cities, enter hippodromes, 
And see before you products of their 
homes ; 



The Past and Present 51 

Enter their courts, observe the judges 
sever, 

The parents of the same forever and for- 
ever: 

To them life is a revel, or a run, 

Their serious thought is given to their 
fun; 

And even death is treated with delight, 

With songs and flowers are they buried 
from the sight. 

Yet fool-age though it be, it is our own, 

So let us jocund be and cease to moan. 



52 The Past and Present 



XVII 

The present is the product of the past 
In part, at least, this present was forecast. 
Where are the people that have helped to 

give 
The civilization in midst of which we 

live? 
If they are not enjoying any gain 
From all their earthly travail, toil, and 

pain, 
This earth, this universe, all space 
Is but the passing of a clown's grimace. 
No, no, the thought's abhorrent to the 

soul, 
There is for humankind a happy goal. 
Wherein of fruit of all the efforts here, 
They now partake with Christ, their Sa- 
viour, near. 
Not yet is present Paradise again, 
We have too many deluges of rain, 



The Past and Present 53 

Earth's winds, that cool the heated brow 

to-day, 
To-morrow sweep man's dwelling place 

away; 
The sun that shed its rays of pleasing light 
To-morrow scorches, and destroys the 

sight; 
The calm blue waters of the noble sea, 
To-morrow rise, and whelm in misery. 
We cannot put our trust in earth or man, 
Here all things fail, and life is but a span ; 
Yet hope sits regnant in the human 

breast, 
And golden rims the darkest clouds in- 
vest. 
Let "action" then be motto as we go, 
Redeem the time, waste no important 

now, 
O'ercome life's obstacles with sturdy will, 
Plough well the field and all thy garden 

till. 
Improve thy age by conquering thyself, 
Quench avarice, nor slave for sordid pelf; 
Let not a false ambition lead thee on 
To climb on other's losses to a crown ; 
Think well of all men, nor thyself deride, 
For self-respect is distant far from pride. 



54 The Past and Present 

If thou shouldst stumble, stay not fallen 

down, 
Rise quickly to thy feet, be man, not 

clown : 
For he achieves who triumphs o'er his 

faults, 
And he is lost who, when he stumbles, 

halts. 
We grow by struggling; that, you may 

depend. 
How noble 'tis to struggle, and contend ; 
A life of combat is a life that makes 
Our hearts heroic, and our strength 

awakes. 
Men call those evils which their paths 

oppose, 
And strikes at good misplaced, their angry 

blows. 
Past ages in their ignorance destroyed 
What wisely we have usefully employed ; 
They thought that Satan grew the poison 

plants 
To kill mankind, but knowledge has 

advanced ; 
They thought temptation was a form of 

error, 
And fled before it in a state of terror. 



The Past and Present 55 

If men were tempted not, how good they'd 

be — 
As good as children in their infancy. 
'Tis opposition brings us into being, 
And conscious we become by disagreeing. 
Contending forces in the realm of Nature 
Produce all things, yea, every sort of crea- 
ture. 
We should not value heaven, were there 

no hell; 
Unworthy he of that who cannot tell 
Of victories in combat with the Devil, 
With world and flesh and every kind of 

evil. 
If everything were right, and naught were 

wrong, 
Our life on earth would scarce be "worth 

a song." 
Notes from the realm of discord Genius 

takes, 
And with them noblest harmony awakes ; 
What men think evil is oftentimes the 

good: 
The overflowing Nile gave Egypt food ; 
'Twas Chaos that supplied the architect, 
The elements these planets to erect; 



56 The Past and Present 

'Twas Waterloo gave Wellington his 

fame, 
Sebastopol gave Nightingale her name. 
'Tis not the infants fed with silver spoon 
That best resist the influence of the 

moon— 
It was the babe who, cradled in the 

straw, 
Sits now in heaven and holds the world 

in awe. 
To stand on earth we need a self-control, 
The product of a true and noble soul. 
'Tis not the men that win the wealth of 

earth 
That by our God are deemed the most of 

worth ; 
'Tis not the men whom worldly souls 

applaud 
Whom He approves, whom all His angels 

laud! 
'Tis they who 'mid the tempting lusts 

have fought 
Like Paul, for what their conscience said 

they ought. 
A place there is for manhood's equal 

sway: 
'Tis earth, this age, this continent, this 

day; 



The Past and Present 57 

Here in the midst of forces that oppose, 
Manhood may triumph o'er its mortal 

foes. 
Beneath the flag our fathers raised on 

high, 
We Christians faith may preach, exem- 
plify. 
If we do not, then greater fools are we 
Than all the perished states of history. 
Think not that we can violate the will 
Of great Jehovah, and yet prosper still ; 
For no respecter He of sinners vile 
Who His own image with their sins defile. 
Yet much I hear and read that seems to 

me 
To show that people think that we are 

free 
From obligation e'en to Him who sits 
And of the steeds of destiny holds the bits. 
When He gave law, behold a mountain 

quakes, 
Dare disobey, and all His vengeance 

wakes. 
Imperial Rome defied Him ; open hell 
And you shall see where Roman fragments 

fell. 



58 The Past and Present 

We have within ourselves the element of 

woe; 
Offend our God, we back to chaos go. 
Perils within us, and above us, bide, 
Like avalanche to Swiss on mountain- 
side. 
Unless there come a Pentecostal fire 
We shall through Freedom's privileges 

expire ; 
She hath declared that all are equal born, 
And have an equal right to Plenty's horn. 
And lo, all men come sailing o'er the sea, 
To gain advantage out of liberty ; 
Each brings his Fetich and his prejudice- 
Can we assimilate them all with this? 
We cannot, unless Heaven will aid us 
To harmonize the people who invade us. 
Let's trust in God and keep His Sabbaths 

holy, 
Insist on worship of Jehovah solely ; 
Keep door ajar, nor open it too wide, 
We would not have all heathendom inside. 

We have this life, let each but use it right, 
And he shall conquer Satan with God's 

might; 
He will direct him as he battles on, 
And give him Victory's triumphant song. 



